Dedekam Ornamental Terrace Garden
About the Garden:
The Dedekam Ornamental Terrace Garden was named for the Dedekam family, great admirers of botanical gardens and early supporters of HBG. This garden is at its best from Spring until late Fall but is interesting and attractive all year long. The driving force behind creating this garden was two-fold. The Dedekams wanted to “knock visitors’ socks off with something spectacular so that they will want to come back and give back to the Garden.” And the family wanted to give back to the community as thanks for all the community gave to them.
One of the striking features of the Garden is the formal, stormwater runnels that currently flow from the top of the Dedekam Ornamental Terrace Garden into the Lost Coast Brewery Native Plant Garden water feature and from there the water goes down to small ponds on the College of the Redwoods campus. Eventually, as part of the Master Plan for the Garden, these runnels will begin in the Heritage Arrival Garden. The look and sound of water rushing down the runnels is well worth a trip to the Garden during the rainy season.
Featured Plants
Smoke bush – Cotinus coggyryia
The Smoke bush plant found in the purple band of the rainbow is normally an upright, loose-spreading deciduous shrub that matures to 10’ – 15’ tall. The shrubs in the Dedekam Garden are maintained at 3’-4’ tall by pruning every winter. This plant gets its name from the billowy hairs attached to spent flowers that turn a smoky pinkish color in the summer. These plants, because of the annual pruning, don’t exhibit the smoking, but are particularly outstanding in the fall when the stunningly dark purple leaves seem to glow.
Growing Conditions: average, medium moisture, well=drained soil, full sun
Dwarf Blue Spruce – Picea pungens glauca ‘Montgomery’
Found in the blue band, this low growing relative of the Colorado blue spruce is an outstanding silver-blue, low growing plant. Even though the Dedekam Garden is far from the Colorado climate one would expect this spruce to be happy in, these slow growing, mounding plants have flourished and provide a good structural element.
Growing Conditions: most soils, full sun
Sea Holly – Eryngium ‘Sapphire Blue’
Sea Holly features prickly, teasel shaped flowers of steel blue that are a favorite for cutting or drying. The steel blue color also infuses its stems and upper leaves. These versatile plants are found in the blue band of the Dedekam Garden and bloom throughout the summer. They are perfect for well-drained, sunny borders but also do well in pots.
Growing Conditions: full sun, low water, dry soil
Giant Silver Mullein – Verbascum bombyciferum
Found in the white band, this perennial is a wonderful, bold architectural plant. Plants form evergreen silvery grey wooly leaves their first year then send up candelabra like spires of soft yellow flowers. Native to the mountains of Greece, the Giant Silver Mullein is an extremely tough, drought tolerant plant. As a bonus, it self-sows and is deer resistant.
Growing Conditions: full sun, tolerates poor soil, low-average water